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Old 01-28-2013, 10:31 AM   #1
PatMyGreen
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Customer Service doesn't matter

So here is my dirty laundry. As some of you know I run a dive shop in Panama City and we sell two types of compressed breathing air to our customers. One is just regular air and the other (called nitrox) has a higher percent of oxygen added. To add the oxygen we order aviator oxygen from industrial suppliers and they deliver it to us in large steel tanks. The only company that serviced our area for avaitor oxygen was Air Gas, a large corporate business with an extensive national supply chain and distribution network. They came once a week to pick up empties and drop off new ones. On more than 1 occasion they did not have enough bottles to replace all the ones they took, they serviced all of our competitors first due to the nature of the delivery route. They charged us $33 per cylinder they dropped off plus rent on the bottles. During peak season we would run up between 2 and 4 thousand dollars a month worth of oxygen. They would send us multiple statements and invoices which were never quite current and generally required a phone call to sort out. With the exception of the pleasant delivery driver, the company generally made it harder for us to do business.
After a year with this company a rep from regional welding supply company from Dothan (about an hour and half away) named Sadler Welding products comes into our shop and asks how we would feel about paying $22 per bottle and the same rent. They would do the same weekly pick up and drop off and be available at any other time with no charge as needed. We jumped at the chance, their people were both professional and friendly. They became known by sight to all of my staff a few even took scuba classes from us. They drove down for just us on several Sundays when we were busier than we expected over the weekend!
Inside of a month Air Gas called us. The first call was to offer us a lower rate on our cylinders and retain our business. Now the rate was $18.50, dangerously near half of what it was. We had to sign a contract to be their customer. This was obviously meant to undercut the new guy and keep him out of their territory, however it clearly meant that they had been profiteering off of being the only guy in town rather than charging a fair price all along, something I find unethical. We refused the offer. The second was their accounting department saying they had sent us to collections for not paying a service fee of $29.95 that they forgot to add to our balance when we returned their bottles and "paid our balance in full."
So the little guy won right? The moral is customer service does matter and being greedy doesn't pay; until 1 month ago. Air Gas bought Sadler Welding Products for 21 million dollars. Now all of Sadler's Customers are once more in the fold of air gas and once Sadler is completely absorbed everything will go back to the way it was. To me the lesson here is that in a corporate economy the little guy can run a small competitive business until his customers either attracts the attention of a giant competitor and gets put out of business in a price war, or simply is made an offer that is too good to refuse.
I will miss my relationship with a regional company that valued me as a customer and went out of their way to take care of me. That is a practice that I uphold in my business, as I feel like my customers may well go somewhere else that they feel takes care of them better if I don't take care of them myself. This is also a stark contrast with the corporate giant that only thought of me personally when they attempted to penalize me for leaving the fold. I will now do anything in my power to avoid being in business with corporate Air Gas again. Hopefully I'm not alone and a lesson can be learned. I have always loved the idea that in America we vote with our dollars. It is in this way that we can reinforce a system that shares our values and ethics. I just hope enough of us realize that's what we are doing.
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Old 01-28-2013, 10:54 AM   #2
ocean_314
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Re: Customer Service doesn't matter

Sadler was selling you gas at cost or at a loss. They where trying to get bought out by Air Gas by taking away their business.

This is a common business practice when a private company owner wants to retire.

In our part of the business world the largest lab that test blood and urine for the insurance industry started doing lab tests for the medical industry at a loss. The owner of the lab wanted to retire and be bought out before he retired.

Quest labs the largest lab in the medical industry bought the lab to keeps its market share...the owner of that lab retired with huge chunk of cash.
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Old 01-28-2013, 12:21 PM   #3
mepps1
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Re: Customer Service doesn't matter

Quote:
Originally Posted by ocean_314 View Post
Sadler was selling you gas at cost or at a loss. They where trying to get bought out by Air Gas by taking away their business.

This is a common business practice when a private company owner wants to retire.

In our part of the business world the largest lab that test blood and urine for the insurance industry started doing lab tests for the medical industry at a loss. The owner of the lab wanted to retire and be bought out before he retired.

Quest labs the largest lab in the medical industry bought the lab to keeps its market share...the owner of that lab retired with huge chunk of cash.
I've never known someone who could spout such authoritative BS with so little information.

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Old 01-28-2013, 12:29 PM   #4
mepps1
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Re: Customer Service doesn't matter

For whatever it's worth, I've found our local Airgas store to be quite good to deal with. You might try cornering and brow-beating the store manager with your problems. Given that kind of volume, I can't imagine them not being very concerned with your complaints. Being sent to collections is pretty aggravating, but that probably had only to do with some cranky old wench in book keeping.

I switched my refills for welding cylinders to Airgas after the second time the local store started charging me for rent on my own cylinders when I exchanged for fills. I think there is more than a little bit of funny business that goes on with cylinder rentals and sales.

You should look into purchasing cylinders. For what they gouge on rent, you can buy them pretty quickly.
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Old 01-29-2013, 09:43 AM   #5
PatMyGreen
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Re: Customer Service doesn't matter

They were absolutely not selling them for cost or a loss, I know Sadlers numbers and know what it would cost to switch to liquid O2 which it might be worth doing in the Summer time if I simply weren't scared of liquid O2.

I certainly believe that Sadler's push into new markets could have been part of the owner's desire to to get bought out and it may have caused my price to to be lower than what air gas was offering. Air Gas could have very easily said that when they came back to me instead of telling me "Well corporate office sets the prices, now they will do $18.50 if you sign a contract."

My business has gone to a 3rd welding gas supplier as of today. If air gas buys them or I get abused then I'll commit to a large membrane system and just have to charge more for nitrox than $5.
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Old 01-29-2013, 10:39 AM   #6
Alec
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Re: Customer Service doesn't matter

You charge $5 for nitrox? im gonna have to start coming to you. Divers emporium and scuba tech are charging close to $13. If i get a couple peoples tanks together it would make up for the gas money lol
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Old 01-29-2013, 07:27 PM   #7
PatMyGreen
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Re: Customer Service doesn't matter

Tell your friends!
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